Psychologists for Black Lives

Luciano Lima, Illinois School of Professional Psychology at Argosy

Citing a public mental health crisis resulting from police violence against Blacks and other minorities, several hundred psychology students from 20 schools in 12 states joined in a coordinated National Die-In on April 4th, 2016. The die-in lasted 16 minutes – one minute for each bullet shot into Laquan McDonald. The impact of these 16 minutes, on participants and observers, was profound. In 2001 the American Psychological Association (APA) issued a Resolution Against Racism, calling “upon all psychologists to speak out against racism and take proactive steps to prevent the occurrence of intolerant or racist acts.” The #psychologists4blacklives movement seeks to answer this call by: 1) raising awareness of the mental health crisis resulting from institutional racism and police brutality, and 2) calling on the APA to publicly support #BlackLivesMatter. We will discuss the past and present of, and future plans for #psychologists4blacklives.